Thycotic’s Cyber Security Publication

Enhanced Help Desk Support and Password Synchronization for Office 365 Added to Thycotic Password Reset Server

October 13th, 2015

Password Reset Server has seen substantial product updates in the last year alone. One of the major improvements to our password-reset tool has been the addition of password synchronization to Office 365. If an organization needs to keep passwords between their internal AD and Office 365 in sync, and aren’t using ADFS users can reset both of their accounts as part of the standard reset process in Password Reset Server.

For end-users looking to reset their passwords, Active Directory still remains the primary user source directory, but admins can map users to their Office 365 counterparts using any combination of AD attributes, such as username, first, or last name. User’s don’t have to do any extra configuration to reset their Office 365 passwords, once it’s set up user’s will automatically see their Office 365 account show up at the end of the reset or change password process.

The password synchronization platforms will be expanding in the coming releases, just let us know what other systems you use that need to keep a password in sync with Active Directory in the comment section below.

Help desk support was another feature in high demand for our customers and is now available in the current release of Password Reset Server. If user’s do end up contacting the help desk because they’ve exhausted their options for self-service reset, there still needs to be a way for help desk users to do the password reset for the end-user in an audited fashion.

Help desk users can log into the Password Reset Server portal, and if they receive a call during that time, they can reset that user’s password. The reset is fully audited, and the user is notified by email as well as SIEM to help alert to a potential social engineering attack.

Using Password Reset Server’s help desk portal means that you can drastically reduce the number of sensitive privileged accounts used by help desk users, creating better efficiency and stronger security. Help desk admins no longer need elevated privilege to reset end-user’s passwords in AD, they can simply go through the Password Reset Server web portal to reset other user’s passwords without direct access to the domain.

Ben Yoder

Ben Yoder is a software engineer turned product manager and a lover of all things IT. He’s an expert on technology integrations and database systems, manages Thycotic's market-leading Privileged Account Management solution, and keeps a keen eye on product trends in the IT security space. Ben currently leads the product team at Thycotic and spends his spare time indulging in craft beers with friends.